NetBeez releases BeezKeeper version 13.0!

Announcements
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Hello community!

Today we are happy to announce that we are releasing version 13.0 of the BeezKeeper server and agents that includes new product features and improvements, bug fixes, and multiple security updates. If you are running a NetBeez server you should see the update flag soon image.

Please read this entire message carefully, as there is important information that pertains to your installation. You may read the 13.0 Release Notes at our documentation site.

New Features

Integrations Refactoring

We have reimplemented the whole Integrations subsystem from the ground up. We have decoupled the Integration Settings (configurations such as hostnames, ports, tokens etc.) from the Integration Notification Settings (what to send to the integration in terms of Agent Device alerts, Test alerts, and incidents from different components - Agents, Targets, WiFi).

Here is an example of the form which allows you to configure the notification types:

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ServiceNow Integration

NetBeez BeezKeeper can now raise and resolve incidents on your ServiceNow instance. Once enabled, the ServiceNow integration will allow you to open and close incidents seamlessly from the NetBeez platform.
Here is an example of an incident triggered and resolved by NetBeez:

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MS Teams Integration: Real-time Notifications

Building on the success of its Slack counterpart, NetBeez now offers an easy-to-configure MS Teams integration. This feature allows support teams to receive real-time alerts and incident notifications directly in MS Teams channels. With this integration, you can stay informed, collaborate effectively, and respond swiftly to network performance issues.

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Webhook Integrations

NetBeez 13.0 addresses a much-anticipated request by introducing webhooks. This feature empowers NetBeez to seamlessly integrate with any third-party tool supporting webhooks, offering numerous possibilities for automation and integration to simplify your network monitoring process.
Here is an example of an opening incident event as it would be received by a webhook:
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Reports scheduling and public sharing

Reports can now be configured to be generated at set scheduled (cron style) and emails will be sent out to a list of emails you specify. The emails send will include a link that can be followed by anyone who has it regardless of whether they have a NetBeez account or not.
The public access of reports can be turned on and off by the administrator at any time:

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Additional Features and Improvements

Here are some select improvements we have made during this release cycle:

  • HTTP SSL Certificate Validation: NetBeez now offers the option to verify the validity of SSL certificates in HTTP tests. It will trigger an alert if an HTTPS certificate has expired or fails the SSL check, allowing you to quickly detect certificate issues. So far the default behavior was to ignore verification

  • Targets Public JSON API: Simplify your NetBeez instance setup with Monitoring as Code (MaC) by utilizing the final piece of the puzzle: Targets API. This in combination with the Scheduled Tests API, Wifi profiles API, Alert Detectors API, and Agent Groups APIs you can configure your whole NetBeez instance using automation tools/basic scripts.

  • Network Speed Public JSON API: Execute ad-hoc network speed tests via the JSON API, allowing for advanced integrations and the creation of custom dashboards or portals.

  • New Target list and advance filters: The targets list has been improved to include test status counters by test type, as well as advanced filtering.

  • Advanced Filtering for Scheduled Tests lists: Similar to the filters added to the Target list we are also adding filters to the Scheduled Tests lists after popular demand.

  • Support for 802.1X for wired agent connections: Our agents now support 802.1X authentication configurations for wired connections as well.

Bug fixes

And of course lot’s of bug fixes; 41 to be exact. Here is a sample:

  • Agent: Fixed issue that in some cases would prevent the Agent from obtaining its external IP address.
  • Agent: Updated version of curl to remediate vulnerability.
  • Agent: Fixed issue where Agents connected to the server via TCP Socket and it runs a Network Speed test a SSL_shutdown failed error cloud occur.
  • Server: Fixed issue, where supplied ‘from’ email address was not being used.
  • Server: Fixed issue where in some cases Scheduled Test Reports would fail to generate.
  • Server: Fixed issue where in some cases Agent Reports would fail to generate.
  • Server: Fixed issue where in some cases a WifiHoppingGroup would failed to be deleted.
  • Server: Added manual work around that can be configured by Support for cases where consumers of the Enterprise SAML Authentication option run into issues with SubjectConfirmation being invalid.
  • Server: Fixed issue where in some cases multiple copies of the same test were being generated when on Target creation.
  • UI: Fixed issue where DNS tests were allowing IP addresses to be used.
  • UI: Fixed issue where a Deleted agent would continue to show in the Agent side bar unless browser was refreshed.
  • UI: Fixed issue where Users using Firefox could not login without manipulating the browser URL.
  • UI: Fixed issue where iPerf/VoIP/Network Speed Test graph tooltips don’t show SSID.
  • UI: Fixed issue where a Deleted Agent where Scheduled Tests still existing still shows in list.
  • Server: Fixed issue where read-only and read-write users could not use the Agent console when Settings were enabled.
  • UI: Fixed issue where HTTP test shows null as proxy port when proxy is enabled.

Updating Your Installation

Software Repositories and Firewall Dependencies

The BeezKeeper server will automatically upgrade to the latest release in two weeks, unless manually overridden. The upgrade will also cascade to agents. This upgrade process may take up to 30 minutes on the server side, so please DO NOT REBOOT the server during this time. Instead if you feel like the upgrade process encountered an issue please send an email to support@netbeez.net.

Ensure your network firewall is configured to allow the server to connect to NetBeez and third-party software repositories such as Ubuntu and Docker. Agents are authorized to access TCP/443 on the server. Learn more about the firewall rules required and the update process.

We hope you are getting the most out of your NetBeez deployment. As always, we are available at support@netbeez.net to answer any question or address any issue you might have.

Feel free to send us you feedback by replying to this announcement here. Let’s get the conversation going!

Cheers,
Panickos and the NetBeez team

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